[nbudros]

I do not want a warning light.
I do not want the feature.
nuff said.

[STi413]

I'll try that 09 method on my 08 too. I doubt it'll work but it's worth a shot.

[USNSTI]

This will be a rant, don't read if you are easily offended.

I just discovered hill start assist (and this thread). Read the whole thing. Looks like my lack of research and extensive test driving has screwed me. I was really digging the car until today. Now I don't even want to drive it. I never imagined Subaru would put in such a badly designed and intrusive feature such as this.

Intrusive in that it takes over/interferes with the driving experience.

Badly designed in that it can't be disabled (in 08's), can't be adjusted, and delays the safe movement of the car one full second.

I was waiting in a long line to merge. It is an onramp I take from time to time but never again apparently. Was my turn to go at the yield sign, heavy traffic, saw my spot, tried to pop the clutch and go. Bam killed the engine. This is not what an STI should do. This is not what any manual transmission car should do. I like being able to pop the clutch and go when I want to go. That is why I drive a manual transmission car.

If I can't get used to this and learn to live with it in the next couple months, or a fix/disable doesn't become available for the 08's. I will seriously trade this car in.

Which would suck really bad because I wouldn't be able to afford an early trade in again and would have to step down into something way less sporty.

But at least the brakes wouldn't lock themselves when I am waiting to merge on that onramp.

I hate my car right now. Please no one take this personally. I am not trying to start a fight, just venting how I feel.

[jrdriller]

Originally Posted by USNSTI

This will be a rant, don't read if you are easily offended.

I just discovered hill start assist (and this thread). Read the whole thing. Looks like my lack of research and extensive test driving has screwed me. I was really digging the car until today. Now I don't even want to drive it. I never imagined Subaru would put in such a badly designed and intrusive feature such as this.

Intrusive in that it takes over/interferes with the driving experience.

Badly designed in that it can't be disabled (in 08's), can't be adjusted, and delays the safe movement of the car one full second.

I was waiting in a long line to merge. It is an onramp I take from time to time but never again apparently. Was my turn to go at the yield sign, heavy traffic, saw my spot, tried to pop the clutch and go. Bam killed the engine. This is not what an STI should do. This is not what any manual transmission car should do. I like being able to pop the clutch and go when I want to go. That is why I drive a manual transmission car.

If I can't get used to this and learn to live with it in the next couple months, or a fix/disable doesn't become available for the 08's. I will seriously trade this car in.

Which would suck really bad because I wouldn't be able to afford an early trade in again and would have to step down into something way less sporty.

But at least the brakes wouldn't lock themselves when I am waiting to merge on that onramp.

I hate my car right now. Please no one take this personally. I am not trying to start a fight, just venting how I feel.

I felt the same way when I got my car last jan/feb. its not just subaru, google bmw hill start, hill holder etc and you will find the same rants. trust me you will get used to it in time and maby even appreciate it. in the mean time lift the handbrake until the HB light comes on and the HSA is disabled. when I'm lazy, I just set the HB to the first notch and then drive off then release the handbrake (brake not set at first notch)

cheers and enjoy your car

[the ambush]

Originally Posted by kailua

Ok, scanned the pages from my 09 owner's manual. My scanner is pretty crappy so it might be hard to read. This is for a US STI.

any canadian in here that tried it on his 09 sti??

[Digitalfiend]

I'm looking into the issue to see if there is a firmware update for the VDC CM that would allow us to disable hill-assist. I'm not sure if it would be possible or not to update the VDC CM via Subaru Select Monitor or some other device.

I'll keep you posted.

Originally Posted by USNSTI

This will be a rant, don't read if you are easily offended.

I just discovered hill start assist (and this thread). Read the whole thing. Looks like my lack of research and extensive test driving has screwed me. I was really digging the car until today. Now I don't even want to drive it. I never imagined Subaru would put in such a badly designed and intrusive feature such as this.

Intrusive in that it takes over/interferes with the driving experience.

Badly designed in that it can't be disabled (in 08's), can't be adjusted, and delays the safe movement of the car one full second.

I was waiting in a long line to merge. It is an onramp I take from time to time but never again apparently. Was my turn to go at the yield sign, heavy traffic, saw my spot, tried to pop the clutch and go. Bam killed the engine. This is not what an STI should do. This is not what any manual transmission car should do. I like being able to pop the clutch and go when I want to go. That is why I drive a manual transmission car.

If I can't get used to this and learn to live with it in the next couple months, or a fix/disable doesn't become available for the 08's. I will seriously trade this car in.

Which would suck really bad because I wouldn't be able to afford an early trade in again and would have to step down into something way less sporty.

But at least the brakes wouldn't lock themselves when I am waiting to merge on that onramp.

I hate my car right now. Please no one take this personally. I am not trying to start a fight, just venting how I feel.

[USNSTI]

I just emailed SOA. Hope I get a response.

[Booster Boy]

I went to the dealer in Plano and they said they could do nothing with it. That is BS

Subaru needs to give us a fix for this.

[RAE129]

MSPT any word? Anyone else have any luck with the 08?

[jonnyboi]

Originally Posted by the ambush

any canadian in here that tried it on his 09 sti??

yes, the manual shows you how to disable it, but disabling the hill assist leaves a stupid "your hill assist has been disabled" symbol light on =(

[DavidM17]

Originally Posted by Digitalfiend

I'm looking into the issue to see if there is a firmware update for the VDC CM that would allow us to disable hill-assist. I'm not sure if it would be possible or not to update the VDC CM via Subaru Select Monitor or some other device.

I'll keep you posted.

I talked to the tech at my dealer about seeing if there was some way of updating the VDCCM. He said he hadn't heard of anything, but would call his service rep. I never heard back from him and haven't bothered to call him back since he was pretty much trying to blow me off. You'd need to chat with someone at Subaru who knew how the VDCCM was programmed. Is it flash programmable or does it require a chip swap? Hopefully you have some inside people cause I've just gotten the run around. I sent an e-mail to SOA and was told to call them. The rep told me hill-start assist could not be disabled. This was right before the 09 came out with its disable feature. I debated contacting the TSB since this could be considered a safety issue if the car stalls while you're trying to go through an intersection, but decided it wasn't worth it. Click the handbrake one notch at the light then release it once you get going.

David

[Pre]

Let's picket SOA. Who is going to make the signs?

[M.S.P.T]

the hill assist is inside the abs pump so there is no fix for it..let me tell you i tried lol..i have yet to see a 09 sti so im not sure if there is a change

dave/mspt

[Digitalfiend]

Originally Posted by M.S.P.T

the hill assist is inside the abs pump so there is no fix for it..let me tell you i tried lol..i have yet to see a 09 sti so im not sure if there is a change

dave/mspt

Yes but there is some programming in the '09s that allow it to be disabled. I'm not sure if it is a message on the CANBUS to the ABS CM or to the ECU then to the ABS CM.

[M.S.P.T]

there is nothing in the select monitor to disable it...

dave